Silent Giants
by xerox's ankh
Summary: The world in ruins and the people you know gone. A group of survivors fight through hoard after hoard until they are introduced with a mysterious pair of opposites.


No one really knows how or where it started but the effected zone was global. An infection was how it began, a mutation of avian flu that deteriorates the brain to only feral instincts. After about a day of high fevers, the host is gone bringing back only a wild animal wanting only to eat its own kind to sate an unquenchable thirst.

It started slowly at first, small town news about folks losing their minds and attacking friends and family. There would usually be an incident at the hospitals shortly after, and days afterwards the media would just vanish from that town. Not a word would be uttered thereafter. People would move on with their lives and continue on, unknowing of the impending doom that lingered in small pockets of the land.

Soon, too soon, did the largest and most secure cites and nations fall to the undead. Governments quarantined state wide regions trying to slow or even stop the spread of infection, even if that meant killing uninfected men, women, and children. Safe zones dotted the landscapes at first, many in preexisting towns, but some existed in swamps, rolling plains, and military ships tied off closely to each other.

Yet, a silver lining was visible, but only if you looked hard enough. Immunity. If only for some, but the immune squandered what was left making small encampments around towns and let there guards down. Most thrived but many were lost from hoards. And, what of the people looking for shelter? Why, they would group together and look for sanctuary from whispers in the wind.

* * *

The autumn air was softer than usual although it held an emptiness that was visible to the most oblivious eyes.

"Why aren't we helping them?" a small voice cutting through the wind. It came from a little girl no larger that four feet tall, who was sitting on the shoulders of a colossal 7'1" man who shrugged in response.

They were both dress similarly in black trench coats that had hoods that concealed their faces from sight. They were standing on top of an overturned semi-truck watching a four man group tear through the highway as every undead in the vicinity lurked toward the gunfire they were creating.

The both of them watched as the group helped each other through the backed up cars. There were four in the group three guys and a girl, the heavier man and the girl were both African American while the other two were Caucasian.

A boomer came out of nowhere and exploded onto the girl and immediately she was swarmed by a hoard of the zombies. The heaver man pulled her on top of a truck as the others mowed down the runners.

"...you want to go down there?" the girl tried again patting the giants head as they watched the group move. Again the giant shrugged but he carefully stepped down and started moving through the gore-ridden streets casually.

"There you go I knew you could do it if you wanted to. So lets hurry up so we can find these new people. Oh I bet they are just the nicest people..." The girl stated with glee making the giant stop for a second and turn his head to look up at her. She saw that and narrowed her eyes, as if he could see that, and crossed her arms.

"Hey don't patronize me. They could be nice..." the giant just made a laughing movement as air entered and exited his mouth silently, but he continued. They made it to an old motel that had a semi- blocking the road.

The giant stopped and looked around before walking over and climbing a billboard next to one of the buildings. Once they both reached the edge of the foot-rails they saw the group enter the pool area and the one in the suit throw something at the chain link fence. The girl put a hand on his shoulder and the group quickly started looking through the motel rooms.

They all looked like they were finding good supplies, if the one in the yellow shirt handing everyone first-aid kits and explosive or phosphorous rounds for everyone was any indication, until a roar tore through the parking lot. the giant got closer to the side of the billboard as the tank tore a piece of concrete out of the road and threw it into the parking lot at the group of people. They scattered and unloaded into the behemoth as the three guys moved toward the stairs.

The girl got the short straw as the tank started moving quickly toward her. She started running to the other end of the hotel rooms where another set of stairs were and ran up them as the tank followed just behind her. She started running as fast as she could down the second floor walkway as the three guys fired pass her. The one in the yellow shirt threw a molotov that burst engulfing the tank in flames as it roared in anger.

As both the little girl and the giant were watching this they didn't notice the moans of undead sneaking closer until a loud feral yell made the giant spin around just in time to get tackled off the billboard and get slammed onto the roof below. The little girl landed a little bit away from him. The hunter clawed viciously at the giant as the girl sprinted over and tackled the hunter off of him. The giant took no time to grab the girl away from the special. The giant moved the girl behind him as the hunter just crouched, circling slowly.

The man pulled out a knife and seconds later the zombie lunged. He shifted to the side before punching the jumper into the ground. the jumper jumped back up and onto the giant, but this time he was ready. Just before the jumper tackled him, he stabbed the zombie in the head. The zombie kept going, knocking him off his feet. The giant pushed the zombie off of him, pulled the blade from his head, and wiped it on the zombies gore splatted jacket. The little girl moved around the giant and kicked the corpse a time or two before climbing up the back of the giant and sitting on his shoulders again.

The two of them looked over to the opposite side of the plaza and saw a dead tank and no sign of the survivors. The girl went a little limp with disappointment, the giant just brought a hand up and he patted the girls head lightly before he started moving to and going down a ladder at the back of the building.

The semi was still blocking the path making them go through the corpse littered plaza. They had to go through some of the rooms to get through there but still it was eerily quiet. The giant had to let the girl down when they entered to rooms. They found a shotgun and a first aid kit that the girl quickly scooped up and placed on the giant, next to the other five aid kits.

"We are going to have to thank them for making the scavenging easy," there was a large crash from the other room and the sound of a body falling to the ground, "ZIGGY!" the girl ran into the room with two 1911's drawn and just barely missed a zombie in the face as it was thrown across the room and landed with a sickening thud against the wall and ceased moving. Ziggy moved over to it and crushed its neck before dusting himself off and comically offering a hug to the girl.

The girl just laughed before moving back outside and moved up the stairs and immediately stopped at what she saw. A tank was dead and just underneath its gigantic hand there was a person, not a zombie, but a person. He was african and looked kinda chubby but he might weigh a little less now that a couple zombies had eaten through his arm and were now fighting over it.

She felt Ziggy pick her up by her hood and place her on his shoulders as he pulled out a K-bar and a bayonet. He walked up to them and stabbed both of them through the head before they could try to bite. He started walking away but the girl pulled on the side of his hood in the direction of that man.

Ziggy turned around and pulled a knife back out and sank it into the man's skull before pulling it out and wiping the blade on his shirt and continued through the motel before hopping the guardrail and walked down the road a little ways.

They were walking over a small bridge about fifty feet from the motel when they heard the clicking of a pipe bomb. Ziggy moved to the edge of the bridge so that they both could watch the three man group run through the stream. They saw the group run along the bank and through the large pond, but they stopped right before going up the hill. The one in the yellow shirt shoved the one in the suit and the girl got between them. They looked at each for a moment saying something and it seemed to work because they started walking again.

The two guys started walking up the hill but the girl looked around for a second and eventually her eyes looked over to the two shaded figures on the bridge. The girl yelled something and started waving at them like mad. The one in the suit got down the hill first and after looking at the girl who staring at us, raised something to his shoulder. Ziggy started backing away and moving down the road when a shot rang out coming from the survivors.

Ziggy grabbed the back of the little girls coat pulling her off his shoulder and put her behind him as he sank below the guard rail.

"Why are they shooting at us?" The little girl said as Ziggy reached in her coat and pulled out one of her pistols. He got into a standing position and unloaded the magazine at the survivors, who scattered after the first round Ziggy fired. As soon as the slide locked back on the pistol he tossed the gun back to the girl, picked her up, and ran down the road.

Ziggy ran for five minutes and ended up in the middle of a Wal-Mart parking lot. He looked around for a moment or two before setting the girl down.

"Well, that was unexpected. They don't seem that nice at all." She said reloading the empty pistol in her hand. Ziggy just stared at her.

"Ok...maybe it was expected, but you don't have to yell." the girl said looking away. Ziggy just lowered his head and smiled and the girl quickly skipped over and jumped onto his shoulders. "Now onward my trusty stead that ah-way." She pointed in the direction of a huge amusement park.

They passed a few military vehicles and stopped as the girl started climbing through the cars, coming out with a few boxed of ammo. Ziggy placed her in a deuce and a half when he heard something a little ways away. He moved away from the girl, despite her protest, and got close to the side of a truck and peeked around it but didn't see anything.

The girl shrugged and started noisily throwing things off the side of the vehicle until she found a large case. She unbuckled the snaps and inside was a nice looking rifle with a large scope and a couple extra clips. She loaded a magazine and had a wonderful idea.

"Come on back I got you a present." The girl shouted out. Ziggy closed his eyes for a second in concentration and didn't hear anything, so he turned back and moved to the truck the little girl was in.

"Look at what I found" the girl happily stated holding a sniper rifle by its sling. She was just about to hand the rifle down to Ziggy when she dropped it. She was entangled by a smoker and sucked back off the opposite side of the truck. Ziggy grabbed the rifle and jumped onto the truck just in time to see the girl getting pulled up the side of the ditch and into the housing area.

He rocketed off the side of the truck in a dead run as his jacket flapped harshly in the wind, the girl getting pulled around a corner. He run faster willing himself around corners as he would only get glances of the girl as he chased her. After the third turn he saw the smoky haze of the smoker and raised the rifle, stopped, aimed, and fired.

* * *

Bang!

The newly three-man group bolted up right in their ticket booth.

"What was that?" Rochelle said rushing to the unbarricaded door.

"I'm no expert but I'd say it was a bullet." Nick said with a grin. That grin fell due to him thinking about his friend that was gone now.

"You know this one time my brother and I were deer hunting and right as we were about to shoot this nice looking doe there was a big bang! Like a huge explosion and that deer ran off faster than a-" Ellis started but was interrupted.

"Maybe we can talk about that later honey," Rochelle said still peeking out the window. After she didn't see anything or hear anything she moved back to the makeshift cot that she was going to sleep in, "Maybe it was those people from the bridge." She stated.

"Yeah or maybe its the military bringing in the chivalry to save our asses," Nick said sarcastically making Rochelle look at him as if he were an idiot, "you know I'm messing with you Ro. It has to be the trigger happy fifteen foot shadow."

"You know you fired at them first right Nick?" Ellis said with a grin.

"Yeah but I swear that thing looked like a smoker." Nick said looking at Ellis.

"Okay, but what kind of smoker just stands at attention for a couple minutes without attacking? Also, it was two people not one." Ro said sitting up in her cot. Both of the guys just stared at her for a minute.

"And how would you know that it was two people?" Nick said with a confused look.

"Back at the motel when I ran up those stairs, I thought I saw something on that billboard, and it looked like two people. One was just sitting on the others shoulders." Ellis and Nick shared a look.

"Why would someone sit on someone's shoulders during an apocalypse? That doesn't make sense." Ellis said scratching his head. Both Ro and Nick looked at each other.

"Why didn't you say anything then and there? We would have met them and at least try to get a little more muscle in our group" Nick said.

"Because I had a _tank_ behind me, and that seemed like a more important thing at the time. After we had the tank finished with, I looked back up at where I saw them and they weren't there. So I just thought I was seeing things." Ro said making everyone lower their heads in respect for their fallen comrade. Ellis just walked off and went to his sleeping area, which was a ripped up couch. Nick followed suit but went over to the door, looking out the bars, and Ro laid back down in her cot drifting off to sleep.

* * *

The round missed just barely and the smoker took another corner, dragging the girl behind him. He ran with gritted teeth as he saw a few zombies tailing him. He jumped on top a line of cars and gained much ground on the smoker, but before he could get any closer the smoker ran in between two trucks making the girl slam into one and pull the zombie off his feet.

The girl had been tossed around the whole way and was knocked out by the sudden impact. Ziggy grabbed her before she could be dragged off again and cut the tongue in two. He put her on his shoulder and pointed the rifle at the smoker whom was just standing up. He fired all but one bullet into the smoker and used the last point blank into its skull.

He stared at the corpse for a minute, sneering, before he heard pained mumbling next to him from the girl. He dropped his smile and mouthed "I win" before walking through the town toward the amusement park. He pulled her hood back slightly and saw a bruise already forming on the left side of her forehead. She had pale white skin and long white hair, and under her clenched eyelids were dark crimson eyes. He frowned and continued moving.

A half-mile later Ziggy was at the entrance of the amusement park glaring at what he saw. The whole area was littered with corpses of zombies and a dead tank. He put a hand on his riffle and moved over to the door to a ticket boot. The door wouldn't budge even when he kicked with all his might. He shrugged and placed the little girl onto the roof of the building as carefully as he could and jumped up to the roof. He picked the girl up and walked to the other side of the booth and dropped down inside the park.

Before he could move though he heard the sound of a gun cocking."Chelle! Wake up and come here!" a voice yelled from inside the booth. Ziggy moved to turn around but that voice told him not to.

"Nick what is it honey..." a female voice said. "Turn around." Ziggy slowly turned around and got a better look at the people who tried to shoot him earlier.

"Who are you?" Nick asked never letting the gun move away from the giant. Ziggy just stared at them while slowly moving the girl in his hands behind him.

"I said who are you? I swear I won't miss this time." The man said raising the shotgun so that it was aimed at the giant's head. The girl just stared at the giant before putting a hand on the shotgun and lowering it.

"Can you understand us?" she asked. There was a brief moment of silence before Ziggy nodded his head up and down slowly. "Can you speak?" Ziggy shook his head side to side. "Is that person you are trying to protect hurt?" The Nick looked at Chelle dubiously as Ziggy took a step back, trying to hide the little one from view.

"So that's a yes then?" she said but Nick pulled her back slightly and whispered, "You sure you want to do this I mean they could be dangerous."

"Look at 'em," they both looked at the giant who was silently watching them while holding the smaller one behind his back carefully, "how long do you think one person can make it while looking out for someone else who can't fight as of right now?" Nick continued staring back at the giant before putting his gun down and opening the door.

"Hope you are right about this." He whispered to her. Ziggy just stood there unmoving.

"Well, come on Goliath. I would keep this door open forever, but I don't want to die. So hurry up." Nick said. Ziggy slowly moved forward watching in detail what the two were up to. After making it to the door he paused again glancing to the side and seeing a few zombies slowly moving toward him. He closed his eyes and walked inside to the back wall immediately as the other two closed the door. Ziggy saw another person in the room on a couch snoring lightly.

"...Hello my name is Rochelle. This here is Nick and that over there is known as Ellis. Could you show us your name?" Rochelle said with a smile. Ziggy nodded and placed the little one in the corner before going to a counter and pulling out a knife. Nick had a pistol out and leveled at him a second later. Ziggy just stared at Nick as he etched into the counter. After he was finished he slid the blade back in his coat and tapped the counter with a finger making Nick lower the gun.

"Ziggy... that's a nice name and who is the other one in your group?" Rochelle said after glaring at Nick and looking at the counter. Ziggy just shook his head side to side.

"Come on, I bet they would love to meet us." She said again with a warm smile. Ziggy just looked at her, and even though she couldn't see his face; she could feel his stare. Rochelle's smile declined as Ziggy walked over the little girl and sat next to her.

No one talked after that for a while and Rochelle shrugged and went back to her cot. Nick went back to the door but for the rest of the night he and Ziggy stared at each other, ready to fight or run.

"Why does the game have to be above ground...couldn't we just fly there...?" the little girl mumbled in her sleep. It was now a few hours till sunrise. Nick jumped at the sound of the voice more that anything but Ziggy was already shaking the girl lightly.

"Why hello there Zig-owww" the girl said holding her head in pain. Ziggy poked her on her bruise and she slapped his hand away but he tried again and again, making the little one laugh loudly.

They continued this until she got poked and cried out in pain, playfully. She held her head that was still covered by a hood and looked around the room. Everyone was smiling around at her and Ziggy. Everyone had woke up in the commotion and were happily watching the girl have fun.

"..." The little girl tensed and moved behind Ziggy slowly as she realized they were the people who shot at them. Ziggy put an arm on her shoulder and the girl looked into his hood before sighing, "FINE, really Zig you yell way to much for your own good." She walked up to the now bewildered group of people.

"Hello it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Luna."


End file.
